Bell Canada customers and employees from coast to coast are speaking out in the wake of a Go Public investigation into customer upselling at Canada's biggest telecom.
"Enough is enough," said Shaelene McInnis of Oshawa, Ont., who discovered that Bell was charging her aging in-laws for internet service, unbeknownst to them.
"They've never even turned on a computer!" McInnis said. "They have absolutely no need for internet services."
When she called to find out why the Bell bill was so high, she learned that a customer service representative had signed them up for Fibe TV, which is delivered through a network enhanced by fibre optic and automatically includes a fee for internet service.
She threatened to cancel all Bell services if the customer service rep wouldn't lower the bill.
"When he was trying to avoid taking it off the bill, I said to him, 'How many other senior citizens are you doing this to? How many people are you charging when they don't need internet service at all?'"
McInnis is one of dozens of unhappy Bell customers who emailed Go Public after reading a story earlier this week about Andrea Rizzo, a Bell call centre employee in Scarborough, Ont., who said she is under intense pressure to make a sale on every call.
One Bell customer wrote to say she felt misled.
"After fulfilling a two-year [cellphone] contract, I was told by a rep on the phone that because I was a valued customer, my phone would be upgraded for free," writes one Bell customer. It wasn't, she said, and her bill skyrocketed. "I fell hook, line and sinker."
A flood of Bell employees, past and present, are speaking out, too.
"I went on stress leave and returned to find things even worse when I came back," wrote a former manager who said "high-pressure sales tactics" and "employee mistreatment" were common.
Toronto labour lawyer Lior Samfiru says the allegations being made by Bell employees are troubling.
"If it's true that no matter who you're talking to, you have to upsell them on x, y and z, that's wrong," said Samfiru. "They should give more discretion to their salespeople to identify appropriate situations to upsell, and certainly not to penalize people for not upselling to someone who shouldn't be sold to."
Bell did not address customer complaints CBC has received.
Bell customers, employees flood CBC with complaints about high-pressure sales - Business - CBC News
"Enough is enough," said Shaelene McInnis of Oshawa, Ont., who discovered that Bell was charging her aging in-laws for internet service, unbeknownst to them.
"They've never even turned on a computer!" McInnis said. "They have absolutely no need for internet services."
When she called to find out why the Bell bill was so high, she learned that a customer service representative had signed them up for Fibe TV, which is delivered through a network enhanced by fibre optic and automatically includes a fee for internet service.
She threatened to cancel all Bell services if the customer service rep wouldn't lower the bill.
"When he was trying to avoid taking it off the bill, I said to him, 'How many other senior citizens are you doing this to? How many people are you charging when they don't need internet service at all?'"
McInnis is one of dozens of unhappy Bell customers who emailed Go Public after reading a story earlier this week about Andrea Rizzo, a Bell call centre employee in Scarborough, Ont., who said she is under intense pressure to make a sale on every call.
One Bell customer wrote to say she felt misled.
"After fulfilling a two-year [cellphone] contract, I was told by a rep on the phone that because I was a valued customer, my phone would be upgraded for free," writes one Bell customer. It wasn't, she said, and her bill skyrocketed. "I fell hook, line and sinker."
A flood of Bell employees, past and present, are speaking out, too.
"I went on stress leave and returned to find things even worse when I came back," wrote a former manager who said "high-pressure sales tactics" and "employee mistreatment" were common.
Toronto labour lawyer Lior Samfiru says the allegations being made by Bell employees are troubling.
"If it's true that no matter who you're talking to, you have to upsell them on x, y and z, that's wrong," said Samfiru. "They should give more discretion to their salespeople to identify appropriate situations to upsell, and certainly not to penalize people for not upselling to someone who shouldn't be sold to."
Bell did not address customer complaints CBC has received.
Bell customers, employees flood CBC with complaints about high-pressure sales - Business - CBC News
